~ Adventures of a 20-year bonsai beginner

Tag Archives: wire

Ficus Benjamina. Not always considered outstanding material for bonsai, but it is readily available and will survive indoors, so I suspect it is used as bonsai more than many species — even if by the inexperienced and curious.

Mine is not dissimilar as this is a tree I have had since my early years in the art. By my records, I’ve had this plant for a solid 20 years.

I’m going to skip any root pruning this year and see if I can get a fairly refined canopy before it has to go back inside for the cold months. So first, today, is defoliating.

I’ve been warned that F. Benjamina can die back if you don’t leave a leaf at each growing tip, but that creates an odd challenge. You see, I like to see the tree structure when I prune, and I don’t know which leaf will be at the tip until all of the decisions are made. So, here’s hoping for a strong growth response.

After removing the leaves I do some initial pruning.

And then wire to get the branches back into position.

I will have to watch the wire carefully. If I get the strong growth response I want, it will bite in quickly.

I was struck when I took an initial look at this redbud today. As it is shown below, there is a tip toward the front at the apex and there are branches at textbook locations on the larger trunk: left, back, right, left, back, right. It was almost too good to be true, so I moved it to the bench and grabbed some wire to start this young tree on the path.

Closer examination told a different story. This next picture shows the base (with some poorly applied wire) from the same front as above. Can you see how it curves under and back as it meets the soil?

On the other side, the base flares out toward the viewer giving a greater sense of age. For now, this will be my front.

Branches were wired down and new growth pruned a bit to encourage some branching. Unfortunately, the tip at the apex, which now goes in the wrong direction, had to be removed leaving what’s left of the apex rather skimpy.

This is a very young tree though. It has a long way to go, but this is a fair start.

I’m trying to quit tropicals. They were for me, and are for many, a great way into bonsai, but I just don’t have appropriate indoor space for very many tropicals to overwinter.

Trying to quit really means I am just trying not to get any more. I have seven ficus (of a few different varieties) and don’t want more than that. This also means resisting the urge to root any large cuttings. Because ficus are so easy to propagate, this is sometimes challenging to resist.

Ok, I’ve said my piece, now let me get onto today’s tree.

I started this tree from a cutting all the way back in the beginning of my bonsai journey, over 20 years ago. It’s been on that rock for years, and I just put into this new pot which fits it much better than the oversized blue pot it has been in.

Now for some wire.

I look forward to when the weather is warmer and I can put this outside to enjoy our summer humidity.